Does the Mainstream Media Distortion of Space and Time leads to Effective Public Policies?
By aggregating news stories and concentrating the reportage of events that are geographically dispersed in a concentrated time period, it appears that the mainstream media may be giving rise to a false sense of rampant crime or social malaise in our country.
This trend appears to exacerbated by the concentration of certain stories which promote or detract from a political agenda that is supported by the reporter or the media outlets themselves.
Hence we see criminal stories come to the forefront during the debate on gun control, weather-related stories coming to the forefront in the discussion on global warming. And, health stories prevailing during times of healthcare deliberations. The old saying “if it bleeds, it leads” is generally true; with the bizarre and outlandish stories taking precedence over all other coverage.
Bottom line …
Consider the source when reading articles which appear to be advocating bigger government, higher taxes using the need for public policy adjustments to redress issues which are, in fact, relatively rare and do not occur in most communities.
-- steve
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius “A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell “Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar “Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS